February 29, 2012

My second grade has been looking at & creating still lifes in many different styles. Picasso was an artist we had previously studied (portraits), and I thought would be great to revisit. The students love his "wacky style"(one of my students actually said this). We used tempera to paint. This was a two session project. Day 1: Draw & Paint bold colors Day 2: Outline in black & finish painting anything that is unfinished

February 25, 2012

So I have seen a real mixed bag with this project!!! From the amazing to the...umm...not so amazing. One of the great things about this lesson is that it coincided with 3rd grade studying forms in math(though they called it solid shapes or something like that?!?!). So when I started talking about creating a cylinder..they didn't look at me all crazy!! ha ha

February 22, 2012

Yes...I mocked Zentangles when I first started seeing them pop up all over on the web.I couldn't understand what the big deal was..."Aren't they just glorified doodles?!?" Though I still feel the answer is yes to that question...I have a greater respect for it now after doing some research. I watched probably 20+ videos on YOUTUBE & went to countless sites trying to learn more about the process. I (being the OCDish person I am) like the structure of a Zentangle over just random doodling. I really love the attention to patterning and design!!! With this new found respect...I decided to give them a go for my 4th graders. The twist I put on them was a contour line drawing of a fruit or veggie in the center of the page. The Zentangle would then take place on/in/over/around that contour drawing. The images here are day 1 of the project. I'll share more after the students have finished them up! OH...and they Zen part of the Zentangle is no joke!! My 4th graders were as quiet and focused as they are when we do weaving!!!(which is AMAZING!)

February 21, 2012

Phyl...from There's a Dragon in my Art Room ( http://plbrown.blogspot.com/)...has agreed to take the above image to NAEA NYC (she is a saint.. isn't she). So...I'm kind of going. If you are going to be there...and run into Phyl...sign me so I know we met!! (ha ha ha) I hope I have a good time!!!!!!!!

I'm doing a food themed art show this year...and looking for some more lesson ideas. I have some ready to go, but would like to have a variety of work to select from. Share your lessons & artist inspirations with me!!

February 17, 2012

4th Grade has been doing a large unit on buildings & architecture. This week we looked at a variety of building facades, and talked about what sets some buildings apart from their boring counterparts. Here are just a few of the student works being created from this lesson(and yes...I did have a few very boring square houses with triangle roofs possessing NO detail, but I wanted to show some of the fun ones!!

February 16, 2012

This blog has been hijacked by the cutest little boy in the world!!! I know...I KNOW!!!! This is an art blog & I need to be posting more art related material. BUT HE IS SO STINKIN' CUTE!!!!!!!!!! I love my kiddos people...and from time to time...I just gotta share!!!

February 15, 2012

I do texture necklaces with kindergarten every year...and it is always a hit. This year though, I decided to change it up a little. I usually only allow the students to use clay tools to create their textures in the clay. This year I was doing a mini dino unit with kindergarten...and decided to pull that into this lesson. I allowed the students to press small plastic dinosaurs into their clay, use sea shells around the edges, and their clay tool to finish off the piece. THEY HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! I had them paint them with metallic tempera paint. I had never used the metallic tempera before(I love metallic acrylic!!). I really like it, but you do need to have the students put at least two coats on to get full coverage!

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P.S,

Sorry I have not posted for awhile....my family got to experience all 4 of us sick at the same time with a nasty stomach bug that is going around! It was a rough weekend...and I am just now beginning to feel a bit normal(relatively speaking!?!?).